THE HELICOPTER CLAMBERS INTO THE sky and reveals the quiet dance of wild peaks. Sheer limestone walls, treasured by climbers, jut heavenward. Their faces now blush the gentlest pink in late sun, stretched skyward, immovable and solemn. I am elated as we rush past sights rich with memories and associations. The Marmolada mountain: site of the Dolomite’s last glacier and the name of the street on which I grew up. Passo Giau, the location of many epic battles in cycling’s Giro d’Italia. The green fields of Alta Badia, long my favourite valley in the Dolomites for adventure and gastronomy.
In a few days I will be scurrying through these mountainscapes on foot on the famous 150-kilometre Alta Via 1. This is the original high-level route through the Dolomites of northeastern Italy, one that spices its scenic feasts with historic and culinary treats.
Nevertheless, the thought brings a slight shudder. Even from the air, the verticality of the landscape is not smoothed. Jagged teeth of rock rear towards the helicopter, threatening to swallow it whole. I have opted to climb some of those teeth using via ferrata, ‘iron path’, a technique born in these mountains.
In blissful contrast, the valleys between seduce with gentle beauty. They are an invitation to the idyll of a sanctuary, enclosed by harsh walls of rock. There, my childhood self is still running barefoot in the grass and throwing snowballs on frosty winter mornings.
As a boy, I was a restless explorer. I have not shaken the habit entirely, but age has refined me. After returning to Earth, I check into Hotel Ciasa Salares in the village of San Cassiano. I rush to the sauna, to be enveloped in the light aroma of the wood. The aromatics on the hot stones open memory’s furthest reaches, the cold mountain water balances the smouldering heat, and the herbal tea has just the right notes. I am enveloped in nature.
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